1. 4.1 Media and Collective Identity
“Identity is complicated. Everyone thinks they’ve got one”. – Gauntlett, 2007.
IDENTITY
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“A focus on identity requires us to pay close attention to the diverse ways in
which media and technologies are used in everyday life, and their consequences
both for individuals and for social groups”. – Buckingham, 2008
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“Identity is complicated. Everyone thinks they’ve got one. Magazines and talk
show hosts urge us to explore our ‘identity’. Religious and national identities are
at the heart of major international conflicts. Artists play with the idea of ‘identity’
in modern society. Blockbuster movie superheroes have emotional conflicts
about their ‘true’ identity. And the average teenager can create 3 online
‘identities’ before breakfast … Thinking about self-identity and individuality can
cause some anxiety – at least in cultures where individuals are encouraged to
value their performance uniqueness. Each of us would like to think – to some
extent – that we have special personal qualities which make us distinctive and
valuable to other people in our lives”. – Gauntlett, 2007
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‘On the internet nobody knows you’re a dog’ – relates to how we can construct an
alternative identity.
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Clothes worn, media consumed, people we like.
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‘the presentation of self’ – Goddman, 1990.
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Minority groups cause complaint about how assumptions are made about their
identity.
BEHAVIOURISM AND MEDIA EFFECTS
Effects Model: hypodermic needle. Audience is duped and doped – addicted. Media is the
opium of the masses.
Gratifications Model: Power to the people. Audience can read, adjust, and subvert media
texts for their own good. Texts are used to gratify needs and interests.
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Social, moral, political objective
o Measure power of media affect – how people think, feel and act.
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Commercial objective
o Measure effectiveness of advertising and publicity campaigns.

2. Cumberbatch and Howitt, 1989
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‘The history of mass communication research is conspicuously lacking in any
clear evidence on the precise influence of the mass media’.
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Effects debate issue revived in the 1990s (Baker and Petley, 2001).
Laswell’s Chain of Communication, 1971
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Any form of communication can be dissected into 5 processes:
o WHO
control analysis
o SAYS WHAT
content analysis
o IN WHICH CHANNEL
media analysis
o TO WHOM
audience analysis
o TO WHAT EFFECT?
Effect analysis
Total Conductance:
At every stage, information can be misunderstood or altered. This is like Chinese whispers,
and is called ‘modified conductance’ or ‘no conductance’.
Propaganda:
It’s only effective if it can tap into the meanest as well as the keenest of intelligence. This
must tap into latent public opinion within the society it aims to influence.
Violent Media
Wertham, 1955.
‘The quantity of violence in the media is stupendous’.
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Analysed crime comics and TV.

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Children shown images and asked to interpret them.
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Children also asked to finish stories.
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Tests are deemed crude and artificial (Gauntlett, 2005).
1) Passivity – comics + TV make children passive.
2) Misconceptions – TV teaches children unhealthy values.
3) Imitation – children copy what is seen on TV.
4) Identification – children see themselves as the strong character, even if it’s the
villain.
5) Desensitisation – high volume of violence desensitises children.
Warshow, 1957.
‘To blame comic books … is simple minded’.